A CIA officer who was captured during the Korean War and held for 20 years by the Chinese gave plenty of names and physical descriptions when they asked him to name his colleagues — but the names and descriptions all belonged to the Boston University football team, the CIA said.

Richard Fecteau, who was from Massachusetts, last month was given the Distinguished Intelligence Cross, the agency’s highest honor for valor, the CIA announced in a statement. John Downey, who was captured with Fecteau, also received the honor.